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A menagerie of music, community, lefty politics, and other oddities


Work on stuff that matters

July 5th, 2010 · Musings

I really envy Seth Godin’s ability to say to much in so few keystrokes. His really poignant blog post today (“What’s the Point?“) was a good gut check for all of us at this halfway-ish point of the year. Simply, what are you working on right now, and what’s the point of it? Is there intention and a scare-you-out-of-your shorts purpose to it, or are you just creating work to create it? To shamelessly borrow from Tim O’Reilly who, in full disclosure, signs my paycheck – is it work on stuff that matters?

Quick gut check. Take a brief inventory of projects you’re working on, or adventures you’re about embark on. Do they 1) scare the hell out of you and 2) create more value than they take away? If yes to both, carry on. If no to either question, you might be creating work just for the sake of doing it.

I’m blessed every day to work for a company that constantly says yes to both questions and pushes my limits every day. It also makes me excited for a couple of announcements about community projects I’m excited to be part of. More soon!

Until then, work on stuff that matters.

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Rivertown Revival is July 24

June 10th, 2010 · Community

Come one, come all to the Rivertown Revival, Petaluma’s local, arts-based, community festival that highlights the Petaluma River and all of the amazing artists that our county is home to. The event includes an art boat race and parade, floating art barges and an all-day festival, which includes local music, art, food and drink and over 40 fabulous local vendors. This is an awesome, water-borne companion to Santa Rosa’s excellent and mandatory menagerie of mechanical wonders, The Great Handcar Regatta, happening in September. If you’re a maker, a river enthusiast, a closet steampunk, Rivertown Revival is a must-attend and completely enjoyable event.

Free and fun for all ages. July 24 in the heart of Downtown Petaluma. Join us!

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Video: When BP Spills Coffee

June 10th, 2010 · Environment, video

It’s a tragic and morally reprehensible thing that BP has waged on the Gulf of Mexico, ocean and wetlands ecosystems, and the people of the Gulf States. It’s also an obligatory, yet sensitive move to resort to comedy in light of an ongoing environmental crisis. Thanks be to Rachel Maddow for airing this spoof from the Upright Citizens Brigade on her show this evening. Don’t feel too sorry for BP as you try not to laugh out loud:

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Join the 350 Garden Challenge!

March 31st, 2010 · Community, Fooding, Urban Gardening and Farming, sustainability

Calling all gardeners, homescalers, dirt devils, community spark plugs, and aspiring green thumbs. Take the 350 Garden Challenge!

We’re organizing and encouraging families, neighborhoods, and communities throughout Sonoma County to commit to participating in some kind of water-wise gardening activity the weekend of May 15-16. Could be as ambitious as installing a new community, school, or church garden, and as small but significant as installing a drip system in your own garden or starting your first container garden with one tomato plant.

Click to join the 350 Garden Challenge!

There’s some amazing projects brewing already in virtually every corner of the county. At minimum we want to see 350 water-wise garden activities taking place – 350 being the widely accepted threshold of acceptable parts per million for greenhouse gases. The Garden Challenge weekend will be a conscious act of water conservation, addressing food insecurity, and bringing neighbors and families together in the garden. It’s proof that even the smallest actions are significant and a reminder that getting your hands in the dirt is  a good thing.

Anyone interested in participating can either register their own garden spectacular and/or sign up to volunteer in another garden project can do so at the iGrow Sonoma County web site—a fantastic resource that is not only a portal to participate in the Garden Challenge, but also one for info about how to get your gardening groove on in general.

The 350 Garden Challenge is being organized and supported by Daily Acts, Sonoma County GoLocal, Living Mandala, the Sonoma County Water Agency, and supported by Sonoma Compost, and Friedman’s Home Improvement centers.

Garden on!

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New LP from Hybrid out today!

March 29th, 2010 · Music

Loves me some Hybrid, the electronica outfit from Wales, ever since they found their way into my Crystal Method Pandora station. Their fourth record, Disappear Here, is out today and features new Hybrid addition – singer/songwriter Charlotte James. Nice, rich, brooding beats throughout this record’s tracks.

Video of the LP’s first single – ‘Break My Soul’. Check it. It’s worth the 8 minutes.

(Or here if you’re reading this on Facebook)

Enjoy!

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